Spanish Grand Prix – No regrets for Verstappen
The Spanish Grand Prix went in Mercedes' favor, with Lewis Hamilton taking his third Grand Prix win of the season, while Verstappen still managed just one victory. He finally finished second in Sunday's race.
After a complicated weekend in Portugal, the Red Bulls seemed to be more comfortable in Barcelona. Despite an excellent start that saw Verstappen take the lead of the race, the Dutchman ultimately lost the strategic battle against Hamilton and Mercedes.
We lacked rhythm against Mercedes.
The Red Bull driver was the first to come into the pits after holding Hamilton behind him until the 25th lap, but his stop was slow (over 4 seconds) and although he was able to regain the lead, Mazepin having blocked Hamilton for a lap, he ultimately conceded victory by staying on his medium tires while Hamilton pitted for new ones.
He conceded towards the end of the race: Mercedes made a very good move by pitting first. Even if I had pitted earlier, they could have covered my strategy as they were faster, with a better pace today. When you’re in front, you try to avoid stopping because of traffic, but it’s much easier when you have pace like they did today, they managed the mediums better with a much better performance than us.
« An improvement on our part compared to last year »
Despite having a strong car this year, Red Bull missed the strategic opportunity but Verstappen admits that they have made a step forward compared to last year: “We can be proud of our performance this year, with improvement compared to last year on a track that is more favorable to Mercedes.”
Max Verstappen, who set the fastest lap at the end of the race after putting on soft tires, now has a 14-point deficit to Hamilton in the World Championship standings and will need to capitalize on a performing car in Monaco to catch up in the standings at the next Grand Prix in the Principality.
